A Little Sparrow
by EnglandBabe1997
Summary: Elizabeth meets a strange pregnant woman stranded in the ocean. Who is she? Please read and review xx
1. Chapter 1

There was utter silence. The sky was dark and quiet, peaceful. The woman standing nearly alone on the shore almost wished it would be like that forever. She stroked the other occupant of the beach' hair softly, humming. After a few moments, she quietened and the night was quiet once more, the water eerily still. In the dark of the night, it seemed that moment would last forever. The otherworldly quiet was broken by a soft but harsh gasp; and the woman froze before jerking her head in the direction of the sound. It was almost midnight; there shouldn't be any one on this beach - not even them. Normally she would consider it far too late to have her son out but by now he was fast asleep in her arms and on today of all days she couldn't be inside a house. She held her son tighter to her chest, tensing slightly, her hand going towards the sword on her belt.

Barely visible in the dark moonlight, a head appeared on the surface of the glistening water, gasping for air. As the figure swam closer, the woman on the beach could see it was another woman - one with olive skin and dark eyes and who looked (understandably) exhausted.

And heavily pregnant.

What was a heavily pregnant woman doing swimming in the ocean? Had she been thrown overboard? When Elizabeth found out who had done such a thing, she would not be happy.

Unfortunately, she couldn't swim out to help the woman as she was still holding her baby son. However, as soon as the woman was shallow enough, Elizabeth waded out to meet her. She put her arm around the unknown woman's waist, deciding the questions could wait until later - perhaps when they'd _both _had some sleep.

"What's your name?" Elizabeth asked the other woman.

She put a hand protectively over her stomach and took deep heaving breaths. "Angelica."

Then, without as sound, she went limp, not falling to the ground only for the fact that Elizabeth had been holding her upright.

Elizabeth carefully dragged her fully back to shore and placing her on the beach, mostly hidden in the shadows. She then ran back to her home and put her son in the cot, running straight back out again (locking her front door behind her). By the time she reached the beach, the woman was on longer unconscious but she was still lying where Elizabeth had put her, again taking deep breaths. Once Elizabeth came into her line of sight, Angelica placed another protective hand on her stomach and shifted on the ground to a move defensive position. Elizabeth put her hands up where Angelica could see them and Angelica relaxed minutely at the lack of weapons.

"Who are you?" She asked with a Spanish lilt.

"My name is Elizabeth. Can I help you?"

Angelica seemed to give this simple query an awful lot of thought, never mind for an exhausted pregnant woman. Elizabeth wondered how many times she'd been hurt to be so wary of someone offering her assistance. In answer to her question she received a slight nod.

Elizabeth walked forwards carefully, keeping in the view of the panicked woman, before placing an arm around her back and helping her to her feet, noting how tense Angelica was. She helped the other woman across the beach and back down the road to her house. When they arrived, she put the woman in her bed, attending to her first, despite the screaming of her son. Angelica was out like alight despite the noise.

The fair skinned woman walked to her son's crib and picked him up, rocking him gently. As she did so she began to think. Had she been too hasty bringing a strange woman into her home? The woman obviously needed help but what if she was a pirate? – Not that it would make any difference to her. Elizabeth could hold her own against pirates.

But Elizabeth wouldn't know anything until Angelica woke back up. Tonight, Elizabeth would sleep with one eye open.

oOo

The next morning, Elizabeth woke up as the sun was rising, still tired due to her lack of sleep the night before. The other woman – Angelica – was stretched out on her bed, fast asleep, dead to the world; despite the cries of the baby in the house.

"I'm coming, I'm coming baby," She cooed softly as she picked up her tiny son. She fed him and changed him before laying him back in his cot and sitting on the rocking chair beside him. Humming, she rocked the crib and closed her eyes, trying desperately not to fall asleep. It was another hour before Angelica awoke with a harsh gasp, tensing automatically.

"Good morning," Elizabeth spoke cordially.

"Morning."

"How are you feeling?"

Angelica cocked her head in thought. "Better."

"I suppose anything is better than being in the sea like that."

Angelica gave a slow dark smirk.

"Might I ask how you came to be in that position?"

All Elizabeth received was silence.

"Would you mind if I fetch for a physician?"

Angelica said, "Don't."

"To check the baby," Elizabeth insisted.

"The baby is fine. And the less people that know I'm here the better."

Elizabeth went against her instincts, conceding to the woman's statement. It might be better if no one knew she was here. "As long as you're sure. Now, Angelica wasn't it? How far along are you?"

"About 38 weeks."

Elizabeth's eyes widened. A woman 38 weeks pregnant shouldn't be swimming in the ocean, never mind for as long as the other woman appeared to have been.

"It's incredibly dangerous for you to have been in the sea. Are you sure I cannot fetch you the doctor?" Her understanding of silence and the need to disappear was sound, but not to threatening the health of an unborn child.

"I am well." Angelica spoke with a Spanish cadence. "I am strong and so is the child."

No amount of further conversation could persuade Angelica to change her mind.

oOo

She stays for a day, two days, three. Eventually Angelica was well enough to get out of bed again but Elizabeth suspected the other woman had been wandering around when she wasn't in the house. Sometimes Elizabeth wondered why Angelica hasn't left yet.

Angelica wondered too. She supposed she felt safe here – with a woman who had told no one of her presence and had no reason to trust a strange woman she'd found in the sea. There was an undeniable connection between the two women, one Angelica couldn't explain, but sometimes when she saw Elizabeth out of the corner of her eye it was like she was looking in a mirror.

The fair skinned woman had the manners and grace of one far above her current station and Angelica couldn't help but wonder where she'd learnt them. It was something about the way she moved, the way she talked.

"Where are you from?" She asked one day, when her curiosity became too much.

"Singapore. What about you?"

"I'm from all over. But my mother was from Spain."

Elizabeth had easily deduced that – and both of them knew it. It was why Angelica had no problem in confirming it.

"Where is she now?"

"She passed many years ago." Under the pretence of changing the conversation, she enquired, "What of your parents?"

"My mother passed when I was very young. My father only a few years ago. He was a Governor in Singapore."

Angelica nodded, unsurprised. It explained the manners - and even the accent she sometimes heard, hidden under the brogue of a countrywoman. No normal countrywoman was as well educated as Elizabeth - and Angelica knew that well.

"What's a Governor's daughter doing in a place like this?"

"Oh, you know the story. Ran away with pirates." Elizabeth smirked at the Spanish woman.

Angelica choked. Of all of the responses she could've anticipated, that wasn't one of them. "What's your full name?"

"Elizabeth Swann-Turner."

There was another choking noise at the name. "I'd heard ... rumours." Angelica looked bug-eyed, which would have been much to her consternation should she have ever found out. "Which of them are true?"

"Which ones have you heard?" Elizabeth smirked recognising a fellow female pirate when she saw one. By now Elizabeth realised that being a pirate did not make you a bad person. Simply an immoral one.

"That you're married to the new Captain of the Flying Dutchman."

"Well, that is more than just a rumour."

Angelica choked again. It wasn't often that someone could surprise her this much - but something told her she shouldn't be surprised that Elizabeth had managed it. "You're _married_ to the Captain of the Flying Dutchman?"

The fairer skinned woman inclined her head.

Angelica struggled for a moment to get herself back under control. "Interesting."

"That's not quite the word I would use."

No it wasn't the one Angelica would usually use either. The one she would've used would have been consideringly less polite and probably should remain unspoken in front of present company - she was still as Governor's daughter, former or otherwise.

Elizabeth threw the Spanish woman one last look before smiling slightly and heading out of the room humming.

oOo

Over the next few days the two girls became closer - Elizabeth shared tales from her childhood, growing up in a privileged house in England and coming over to Jamaica in a ship that wasn't a pirate one, and her subsequent life in Port Royal. Angelica shared stories of her life in a Spanish Convent and her girlhood as a poor Spanish orphan abandoned as a child.

Both shared stories about their families - Elizabeth on her wonderful father, Angelica on her awful one, Elizabeth's immortal husband and the many adventures they had been on, avoiding any names. Angelica had even touched on the Fountain of Youth and how she had come to be stranded in the middle of the ocean heavily pregnant (some pirates wouldn't listen to a woman, particularly not a pregnant one).

Both women made short trips into the main village, Angelica meeting the locals , who were, whilst not welcoming, were not wary of strangers and their oddities. Angelica's strange accent and even odder attitude would not immediately make both her and her host outcasts, unlike in other nearby towns.

Throughout this time Angelica continued to swell, like a balloon filled with water and she drew closer and closer to her due date. Elizabeth teased her about her weight, good-naturedly and Angelica not-so good-naturedly fired some retorts back that Elizabeth blamed on both her fiery Spanish blood and her raging hormones.

Angelica had immediately calmed down and sulked, proving Elizabeth's point.

By the time Angelica was roughly (by her count) thirty eight weeks pregnant, she realised that she didn't actually _want _to leave - not that she would now be easily able to. Her and Elizabeth were very similar in an odd multitude of ways - their fiery tempers, their love for piracy and the unconstrained lives they led, even their dark and sarcastic sense of humour that horrified most other young women and scandalised polite society. It was odd to find someone so similar to herself - particularly another woman, in a time where most young ladies were either wall-flowers or wenches. Angelica quite enjoyed the novel experience.

"How was town?" Angelica asked Elizabeth as she walked in with a basket on her arm, looking unusually matronly.

"Pleasant. They had fresh potatoes today."

"And young Mister Jones?"

Elizabeth scowled at the darker haired woman. 'Young Mister Jones' did not believe that either Elizabeth had a husband nor in taking no for an answer, a practice that severely annoyed Elizabeth when Jones invited her for a stroll every time they happened across each other.

"Was fortunately not there."

Angelica smirked. "Shame."

"For him perhaps. For me it is nothing but good fortune."

"Next time can you hit him? I would love to see that man smacked by a woman - particularly you. You know how condescending he is towards women - it is a wonder he is perusing you at all."

"Perhaps one day I will endeavour to find out why you have learnt so much about my neighbours, but at the moment I find myself agreeing with you. I will soon lose my patience with that man, and when I do he will end up a few teeth less."

"Please warn me in advance. I'd hate to miss it."

"You can have front row tickets."

Angelica laughed and then winced, doubling up.

"Angelica! Are you alright?"

The Spanish woman winced again. "I think the baby's on its way."

Elizabeth's hands fluttered for a minute before she decisively said, "Go and get on the bed. I'll sent next door's son to fetch the doctor."

Angelica did as she was told.

By the time Elizabeth made it upstairs, Angelica was lying on the bed, wincing in pain every so often. "I swear it's supposed to take longer than this."

Elizabeth reassured her. "It's completely fine. The pregnancy has been normal and so will the birth."

"Where is the doctor?" Angelica panted.

"On his way. He'll be here soon. I promise."

The pair of them sat in the room for another twenty minutes, Angelica crying out in pain and panting for air, Elizabeth holding her hand reassuringly and telling her that they would both be fine. She thanked the gods that her own son didn't wake in all the commotion. Without warning, there was a knock on the door and Elizabeth squeezed her friend's hand gently before racing down the stairs to answer it.

"Good afternoon ma'am."

"Good afternoon doctor."

"Where is the patient?"

He was answered by another cry from upstairs, even as Elizabeth gestured to them and started to make her way up. The pair of them reached the bedroom to find Angelica hunched up in pain, wincing.

"How long as she been like this?" The doctor asked, rushing to inspect her.

"Perhaps half an hour."

"Half an hour?" The doctor sounded incredulous. "This baby _does_ want to be here, don't they?"

"Is something wrong?"

"No ma'am, your pregnancy is going fine, if a bit fast."

"Is that a bad thing?" Angelica, calm as she normally was, was close to a breakdown.

"Not at all. At this rate it will all be over very quickly. Possibly even within the hour."

Elizabeth, from where she was standing at the side of the bed, said to Angelica, "How fortunate for you. My William took almost a day."

The doctor looked compassionate. "Yes, it does vary."

Angelica winced again.

"Is there anything I can do?" Elizabeth inquired.

"Can you fetch some clean water and some towels?"

Elizabeth did not answer, instead rushing off to find the required items. When she returned, Angelica was wincing with an alarming frequency, something she would not mention aloud for fear of frightening the Spanish woman.

"This is quite possibly the quickest pregnancy I've ever seen. But everything appears to be in order - in fact everything is going well."

Elizabeth sighed in relief.

"Damn him, damn him to hell."

The doctor seemed quite shocked by the coarse language Angelica was using, even though he didn't comment. Unusual though it may be, pregnancy was a common cause for even the most societal of young ladies to swear. "You're almost there."

"I'm going to kill Jack bloody Sparrow!"

"What?" Elizabeth gasps, almost falling off the bed and letting go of Angelica's hand - not that the other woman can tell what with how she's gripping onto it.

"Damn Jack Sparrow to hell!"

Elizabeth doesn't get the chance to express her shock or ask any questions, or indeed swear herself (which would shock the doctor imminently more, she thinks), because at that next moment a loud cry fills the air and Angelica slumps back tiredly. She looks tired but well, and that is more than most mothers can say. The doctor smiles slightly, checks the babe over and then hand her to her mother, giving Angelica a quick check to see if she is in any immediate danger. She isn't and he has three more patients to check up on so he departs, promising to drop by the next day.

As he leaves, Angelica falls asleep and Elizabeth takes the baby shaking her head in disbelief.

oOo

"So it's been decided. Amara?"

"It seems fitting. After all no one said pirates can't have a sense of irony."

"What about her last name?"

"Well, she's got the option of either Sparrow or Teach. Either way she's doomed."

"Go with Sparrow. Amara Sparrow. It has a good ring to it." Elizabeth pauses. "I can't believe you didn't tell me Jack was her father."

"I can't believe half the things he does, even now."

They both giggle slightly, Elizabeth still somewhat shocked by the revelations of the day before, waking Amara, who begins to cry.

"Did we wake you up Princesa?" Angelica coos in a way that is instinctual to the Spanish woman, if new. Amara blinks and gives them a slight smirk in a way that is most unnatural for a day old baby.

"She's just like her father."

**Please read and review - this has taken ages (it's been in writing since August) xx I hope you all like it :)**


	2. Chapter 2

**Despite me telling myself that this would either be a one-shot or a two-shot, this appears to want to be a three parter (or more if my audience and muse demands it). I hadn't planned on continuing this so I'm actually quite impressed with how quick this wrote itself, even if it's shorter than the first part. Please read and review x**

Captain Jack Sparrow was bored. Very bored. He had recently found himself a boatload of treasure on an obscure island, not cursed or protected by a witch (as was his usual luck) that had promptly been shared between the crew and most of them had departed for Tortuga in order to spend their new fortune as quickly as possible. Jack, however, had decided to perhaps save his share of the loot - or at least part of it. He had no need of a port wench, not with his compromising stirrings for Angelica getting in the way, and he was already well stocked up on rum. This also meant that whilst his crew frivolously spent their money, Captain Jack Sparrow had nothing to do and boredom was not a pursuit that suited him well. He didn't want to go on a grand adventure - it would be on his own and adventures were not nearly as impressive without an audience - and yet he couldn't think of anything better to do.

Maybe he could drink some more rum.

Yes, the rum was a good idea.

If only Will and Elizabeth could see him now - or even Angelica - positively bored and for once not getting into trouble.

Wait a minute. There was an idea.

He could visit Elizabeth!

He hadn't seen the dear Mrs Turner in a good six or so years now, avoiding the port in which he knew she'd made her home. Memories were not something Jack generally looked fondly on, not even with young brunettes - and perhaps particularly with Elizabeth. But right now he had nothing better to do and he hadn't seen his old friend in a good few years, so it was high time he owed the bonnie lass a visit.

He set sail near immediately, knowing that he'd need to be so that he would be back before his crew left Tortuga satisfied without him. He wouldn't take the Pearl, Elizabeth's new home was not far and taking the Pearl would imply to the crew he was leaving them behind - never mind the fact that it would be impossible to man the ship by himself (ignoring his time in the Locker, where he had actually been manning the ship by himself albeit different versions of him).

Within a day and a half on a much smaller vessel, Jack could see the dock of the small fishing town where he knew 'Lizabeth had most recently settled. He hoped she hadn't moved, but doubted it, knowing that she would want to be near the sea and so her husband. Hopefully it would be easy to find her, especially in a town of this size.

It didn't take much asking to find out where Mrs Turner lived. She seemed not popular but well respected in town, even if many people immediately assumed he must be Mr Turner, a fact he only dissuaded a few people of. Let the rumours make of it what they will.

He followed the directions to a fairly large house on the out skirts of town, close to the sea. It was perfectly situated to allow Elizabeth out to the ocean without being spotted and would he perfect for engaging in acts of piracy. Jack couldn't exactly decide where Elizabeth had received the funds for this, nor who she needed the extra space for. 'Lizabeth may sometimes be a flirt but she was always faithful to Will, even more so now that he was her husband, Jack presumed. So who else was living with her?

He thought about going for one of the windows in order to enter but ultimately decided against it, not knowing who else she lived with - not that he would particularly care either way. He also decided to knock on the door, as was only fair for staying away for nearly seven years.

The door was answered, not by Elizabeth, but by a small boy with her eyes and Will Turner's hair.

Jack gaped slightly, before rearranging his expression. It seemed 'Lizabeth and Will had put their one day on land to good use.

"Who are you?" the small boy asked curiously, obviously perplexed at the idea of someone coming to call who he didn't already know.

"I am..."

His introduction was cut off by the sounds of footsteps on the stairs and Lizzie's voice calling "William, what did I tell you about answering the door?"

She reached her sons side, still scolding him slightly, before shooing him back into the house and finally turning to see who their caller was. Her mouth dropped open.

"Hello darling!"

Elizabeth slapped him.

Jack put a hand to his cheek, already feeling the area redden. That was the kind of behaviour he expected from a scorned wench. Not from the Governor's daughter turned Pirate King. Perhaps that was where the influence had come from - after all, pirates were not the best of role models. He couldn't even decide what he'd done worthy of such an assault, scanning his memory quickly, examining their last meeting in as much detail as possible. That he could not remember much indicated it had been far too long and perhaps that was what Lizzie had been angry about. She had missed him!

Well he certainly had a few things to ask her himself!

Elizabeth, ignoring him completely, turned her back on him and stalked down the hallway. Her son took one look before scampering upstairs, most likely to eavesdrop, curious as to who this stranger was and why he ignited such a temper in his mother.

"Jack," Elizabeth said through gritted teeth as she pushed open the door to the sitting room.

"'Lizabeth. Lovely to see you darling." Without waiting for permission, Jack sat down on one of the sofas.

"Well it's certainly surprising."

Jack threw her a slight look. "You can hardly talk to me about surprises. I mean I hadn't heard anything about the baby."

Elizabeth suddenly looked shocked and then speculative, leaning forwards. "I suppose not."

"Looks like his mother though doesn't he? Acts like his father. Will never could stand up to you when you were in one of your moods, could he?"

A flash of comprehension flared in Elizabeth's dark eyes and Jack wondered why. "He looks rather like his father, as well. I understand that's becoming rather common in children."

Jack shook his head in disagreement. "He definitely looks more like you. He has your eyes and your nose and your chin and your hands."

Elizabeth raised an eyebrow, only slightly surprised that Jack noticed all of that with a five second glance at her son. Seeming to disregard his previous statement, she continued, "Where have you been Jack?"

Jack waved a hand nonchalantly. "All over the place. Tortuga." Here, Elizabeth frowned slightly. "Had a couple of adventures. Lost the Pearl a few times. Found the Fountain of Youth. Met a few more sea turtles. But Mr Gibbs will have to tell you those stories."

Elizabeth's eyes again flared with comprehension at the mention of the Fountain of Youth, before subsiding into something more neutral. "Where _is_ Mr Gibbs?" She peered around as though she were expecting him to come striding through the door behind the Captain.

"Tortuga, with the rest of the crew."

"You left them in Tortuga?" Elizabeth sounded incredulous.

"Aye. I was visiting you darling. I didn't exactly need a parade for it."

"Do you have the Pearl at the minute?"

Jack answered in his usual confusing way. "Yes and no. Yes by at the minute the Pearl is in my possession and I am it's Captain, no as in the fact that I did not sail here in the Pearl. So the answer is both yes and no and I find I cannot decide which more of one than the other."

Elizabeth only followed this high speed rant with great practice. However her question had been answered and so she asked, "Why haven't you come by before?"

Jack waved a hand. "I've been busy."

Elizabeth nodded sagely, looking disbelieving. "Very busy."

"Uh-huh. I've had damsels in distress and even more distressing damsels." Trying desperately to change the conversation topic before he accidentally admitted to avoiding her - something he thought she'd be displeased with - he said, "Now, why don't I meet your son?"

"Because you'll be a bad influence on him."

"Never! Not with a mother like you. Anyway, it's about time he met his Uncle Jack."

"Uncle _Jack_?" 'Lizabeth sounded unfairly incredulous.

"It's only proper."

Elizabeth put a weary hand to her head. "My son is doomed."

"Oi," Jack crowed. "That's not fair. I might be a good uncle."

"You? Good with kids?" She looked at him speculatively. "Maybe." She muttered something else under her breath before saying, "We'll see."

There was a long moment where she did nothing more than stare at him, him looking back puzzled.

"Will!" She called suddenly, snapping out of whatever reverie she had been in.

There were immediate footsteps on the stairs, making it obvious they'd had an eavesdropper. Elizabeth went to the door and Jack could hear her scold him for his poor manners and then tell him something else which he couldn't make out through the thick wood. Mother and son came into the sitting room, Elizabeth reseating herself on the same sofa as before.

"This is Captain Jack Sparrow."

The young William Turner stuck out a hand politely and said, "It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance Captain Sparrow."

"You can call me Uncle Jack! And none of that formal stuff."

Will threw his mother a slight look, now looking desperate to escape the room, even in so few seconds, despite his prior eavesdropping.

She nodded slightly.

"It's lovely to meet you 'Uncle Jack'. Now, you really must excuse me." Sounding and looking much older than his age, he half-bowed and left the room, running for the stairs as soon as the door shut behind him.

"What have you been doing to that boy?" Jack asked, horrified.

"He's only like that around strangers. I've brought him up proper. But as soon as he's at home he drops all of the social etiquette and the clothes and sadly his manners as well."

"Manners? Have you ever heard of a pirate with manners?"

"He isn't going to be a pirate!" Elizabeth said sharply.

"It's in his blood. He isn't going to escape that."

"I know. He knows what his father is, who he is, and he's proud of it. He knows what I've done. But a life at sea is dangerous. We both know that. I'm not going to encourage my son towards that, no matter how old he is. Even if I know that in the end he'll be on the sea anyway."

"It's in his veins. You can't keep him from his birthright."

"I know," Elizabeth said wearily. "But I can damn well try."

Desperate the change the conversation to something less serious and depressing, Jack exclaimed, "Language, Elizabeth. I'm shocked!" He grinned suddenly. "That's the pirate I know!"

"I'm still a pirate Jack. Just a bit more grounded."

"That's the worst kind of pirate. They all end up getting respectable jobs and hunting down the rest of us."

"Rest assured Jack. I have never felt the urge to hunt other pirates down. With perhaps the exception of you."

"Exception to every rule am I?" Jack asked cheekily.

"Yes. And you don't want to be."

Jack gulped at the completely serious and slightly deadly look on the brunettes face. "So what's with the house? If you're bringing your son up proper I'm guessing you have a couple of servants."

"No. The maid comes three times a week and that's it. It's not that big a house."

"It looks it to me," Jack snorted.

"You live on a boat," Elizabeth replied sardonically. "Everything seems big compared to that."

"Are you insulting the Pearl?"

Elizabeth shook her head, a faint smile tugging at her mouth. "Never that Jack, never that."

The front door slammed open. A muffled voice cried, "Elizabeth? Where are you?

"I'm in the sitting room," she called back, "and..."

The door to the sitting room swung open.

Jack stared in shock at the newcomer.

Angelica slapped him.


	3. Chapter 3

**I don't know why but all my chapters tend to get shorter and shorter, without me even noticing until I've finished. I know the tenses change in the middle - that it deliberate, it's catching up to the present. I'd like to thank Guest Laura for pointing out that I was incorrect about the meaning of the name Amara - I suppose that's what I get for using google :) Please read and review xx**

Jack gaped. What was Angelica doing_ here_, of all places? She, like Elizabeth, didn't look to have aged in the six years since they'd last seen each other. Her hair was the same length, with not a hint of grey - not that he would've expected that anyway. She had drunk from the Fountain of Youth after all. Her beautiful brown eyes were, right now, glaring at him. Oh.

He couldn't stop his heart from beating just that tiny bit faster at the sight of her, glare and all, and scowled at the treacherous organ. What would it take to quash these stirrings?

"What the bloody hell are you doing here?" she shrieked, sounding angry enough to slip into Spanish. And Jack knew how angry she had to be for that.

"What am I doing here? What are you doing here?"

"I live here!" She slapped him across the face again. _Hard_. He put a hand to his cheek, knowing the area would be bruised in the morning - but at least it would be both sides of his face. One side would just be awkward.

"What was that for?"

"Being Jack Sparrow." Angelica sounded furious.

He debated whether or not to correct her, as he did everyone, but given the frankly dangerous look on her face, he elected against it.

"What have _I_ done?" Jack actually didn't know (for once). Or at least, he couldn't think of anything he's done _recently_, and last time they'd met Angelica hadn't been the type to hold onto a grudge.

"You abandoned me pregnant on a desert island!" Angelica spat.

Jack choked.

"You...what? You were actually pregnant? I thought it was just a ruse to get off the island!"

"Tough luck. I was actually pregnant."

Angelica looked ready to spit fire.

"I'll leave you two to it," Elizabeth mumbled quietly as she edged her way out of the room. Jack barely noticed.

"What happened? How?"

Angelica threw the Captain a scathing look. "Surely I don't need to explain _that _to you. You've had more than enough practice at it."

"When?" Jack realised he was still standing and collapsed backwards, back onto the sofa he'd been sitting on earlier when he'd been talking with Elizabeth. So this was the explanation for all of the obscure things she'd been hinting at earlier about children. And meeting them. Oh, _hell_.

"I told you. You were drunk."

Jack shook his head. "I'm never that drunk."

"Well apparently you were," Angelica snapped, still standing ominously over him.

Jack, once again, restrained the urge to snap back.

"Why are you here?" he asks, still processing the information.

"I got off the island. Got checked out by a physician. And then went back to sea." Angelica gave him a unreadable look. "Pirates don't take a pregnant woman very seriously, even if _she _is a pirate. I went overboard not far from here and Elizabeth was down on the beach." Angelica shrugged, her eyes still hard and dangerous, even as she relaxed. She too sat down, so that she was no longer towering over Jack. "I stayed here after that."

"Why so long?" Jack asked and it's almost a whisper.

"She does have that way of drawing you in, doesn't she?"

Jack knew exactly what Angelica meant. Elizabeth was like a flame and everyone else are just moths. He didn't know what else to say.

"It was a girl."

Jack looked intrigued despite himself.

"Amara. Amara Sparrow."

Jack raised an eyebrow. "You used Sparrow?" He couldn't believe she'd used _his_name.

Angelica shrugged. "It was that or Teach."

Shuddering slightly, Jack nodded in agreement.

"You're lucky ye know. That vodoo Jack washed up on the island."

Jack gulped.

"I was very tempted."

Angelica sat there for a moment, silent, with dark eyes. Her gaze was searching and when she asked "Would you like to meet her?" Jack thought she knew exactly what he would say. He briefly considered saying the opposite, just to spite her, but then decides it isn't worth the hassle. Angelica had always known him too well.

* * *

Angelica goes out into the hallway. Elizabeth is in the kitchen, making supper, and the children are playing upstairs. Apparently they are good friends.

"Amara!" Jack can hear Angelica call with just that hint of a Spanish accent.

There are footsteps on the stairs, and Jack can't breathe. "Yes Mama?"

"Come down here chica. There's someone ye need to meet."

* * *

Jack stares. She looks like him, with the darkness of Angelica's eyes.

"Amara?"

"Yes mama?" She has Angelica's accent.

"This is Captain Jack Sparrow."

Amara hold out her hand as though to shake it but quickly withdraws, cocking her head. She's heard that name before.

Sparrow.

She might only be child, but an intelligent one - she'd have to be, half Jack, half Angelica, all pirate.

Her father.

She's still only a child though so she asks, "Papa?"

Jack doesn't know what to say. In all his time at sea this is a new experience for him. He nods instead.

A tight grip goes around his waist and Angelica's eyes are looking up at him through his lashes and he can't help but let a smile start to slip.

Angelica watches from the side, still angry, still not yet forgiving, but she thinks that maybe - maybe even soon - she will do.

* * *

Later on they sit on the sofa - all three of them, Amara snuggling up to her mother and Jack looking unsure as to whether he wanted to leave or join in the hug. He was sat on the edge of the sofa, tensely, until Amara seemed to get bored of her mother, instead turning to Jack. Angelica resists the urge to burst into laughter at the terror-stricken look on his face, but just barely.

"Papa?"

Jack starts at the new term of address but answers anyway. "Yes?"

"Why weren't you here?"

Angelica internally snorts, watching to see how Jack gets out of this one.

"I didn't know about ye...Amara." He doesn't know what to call her, how to act. He looks around the room, taking in the furniture, the curtains, the carpet, anything so that he doesn't have to look down. He's never been good at facing up to his mistakes and what's scaring him is that he isn't sure if this is one.

"But mama said she told you!"

Jack threw Angelica the evil eye for making his job harder. "Did she?"

"Yes."

"Well, then. I suppose I misheard her."

Angelica raised a brow. That was the best her could come up with?

Jack changes the subject hastily. "So, how old are you?"

"Five!"

"Really?" Jack honestly doesn't sound sure.

"But I'll be six soon!" Amara sounds so excited and Jack looks so disconcerted that Angelica can't help but laugh out loud. "Mama?" Amara asks sufficiently distracted, turning excitedly to face her.

"Yes chica?"

"What have you gotten me for my birthday?"

Angelica tweaks her nose and Jack can't believe what he is seeing. Angelica Teach is being maternal. "You don't think you can get it out of me that easily, do you?"

"But mama..." Amara whines.

Angelica pushes her lightly off the sofa, shaking her head. "Go play with Will."

At the thought of playing with her friend Amara dashes out of the room, at a sprint, Angelica's hair flowing behind her. Elizabeth comes in as Amara leaves, almost knocking the tray she is carrying to the floor as the small girl runs by. The tray contains cups of tea and few biscuits, set out as though they are in polite company, and Jack can't help but think how bizarre this entire trip is.

"They'll be married one day," Elizabeth says.

Angelica nods.

Jack can't help it. He's only just found out that he's got a daughter - and then there's adding Angelica and Elizabeth to the mix. She isn't getting married - ever. "No!"

The death glares he gets from Elizabeth and Angelica from ruining their dreams are so not worth it.


	4. Chapter 4

**I might do a sequel to this, or more chapters later x I hope no one is too upset with the end of this, but I can't honestly see Jack as a great, stable parent. But I think that Angelica would understand that, and that's why she hadn't gotten in contact with him sooner about their child. Anyway, please read and review to tell me what you think xx**

Amara _is_ a pretentious little thing. She's the spitting image of him and sometimes that makes him laugh in something he can't decide that he's feeling at the minute. She sounds like Angelica sometimes, or Elizabeth and it makes him laugh. Other times she says things that make perfect sense, things he could've said, and Elizabeth or Angelica laugh. He doesn't know whether he is supposed to feel offended.

He doesn't know how to do this. What with all of his previous occupations, parent has never been one of them - and he didn't exactly have the best role models himself. He hadn't met his own father until he was almost fourteen and his mother had died leaving him with a step-father and two siblings by the time he was seven.

At first he'd helped bring the siblings up on his own, but by the time he was eleven both of them had died (one from cholera, the other from tuberculosis) and Jack had run away to sea to be a pirate.

He had no experience in this kind of thing. Or indeed _anything_ that involved families.

He'd said as much to Elizabeth, though he wasn't sure why, it wasn't like he was planning on _staying_, to which she'd replied, "No one does, Jack."

She'd given him an odd look and then turned away, to take a walk down the beach.

Angelica was upstairs with little William Junior and Amara. His daughter.

He just couldn't say that yet.

He reached the top of the stairs and was promptly bowled over by Amara, who clung to him like a monkey. He didn't really know what to do, but wrapped his arms awkwardly around her before setting her down on her feet. She gripped his hand like a limpet.

Seeing him at the top of the stairs alone, Will enquired, "Where's mama?"

"She's gone to the beach."

Angelica gave him an peculiar look. He seemed to be fond of receiving those looks today. He didn't know what she wanted him to say, but took a guess.

"Would you like to join her?"

"Could we papa?" Amara asked, bouncing up and down, still attached to his hand. He pulled the arm free instinctively and she slumped down disappointed, so he ran a gentle hand through her hair and then quickly replaced it at his side, fingers twitching oddly.

He still wasn't used to being called papa either.

* * *

They were down at the beach only a few minutes after Elizabeth who had barely made it to the shoreline by the time they'd arrived. She was staring at the sea, still until Will ran up to her and grabbed her hand excitedly. She startled and then gave him a tight hug, which he accepted for a few seconds before squirming out of.

Amara followed her best friend up to the ocean, almost tripping and falling face first.

Will laughed at her.

She pouted.

When his laughter didn't stop she pushed him over. He surfaced spluttering sea water, before diving for her legs to take her down with him.

Within seconds they were both laughing and soaking, Amara running out to Jack, dripping water. She grabbed his hand and pulled him straight into the ocean with her, a move he retaliated with by tickling her until she shrieked with delight. Elizabeth was equally soaking, giggling with her son, whilst Angelica was still on the beach, laughing with her head thrown back and dark hair flowing in the ocean breeze.

Jack's breath caught at the sight and his next shudder had nothing to do with the temperature of the water.

"Mama?"

Angelica smiled at her daughter, before joining them in the water.

They did not leave until long after the moon had risen and they were all shivering in their clothes.

Jack couldn't remember the last time he'd had so much genuine fun.

* * *

Elizabeth smiled to herself at the sight of her son playing with Amara and her father, exchanging a fond glance with Angelica, who couldn't help the softening of her eyes as she look at her old lover.

This was a sight she'd never thought she'd see - Jack and her daughter, _their_ daughter, like this. She hadn't seen Amara like this in quite a while now and Jack was even more childish than usual, often getting into staring contests or battles of will with either child. She found it even more amusing when Jack lost and then spent the rest of the day pouting.

There had been no talk of him leaving them and going back to his crew in the last few days, no talk of abandoning them for the Pearl. But Angelica knew it would happen eventually. Men like Jack would not, could not, be tied down.

They were supposed to be free to roam the seven seas and she knew not to expect anything more from him simply because they now had a child together.

She was not a romantic after all.

But she hoped that Jack wouldn't run from this like he ran from everything else. That once he left for the Pearl that one day he would return and tell his daughter that he cared about her.

She didn't want anything more than that.

* * *

Jack had barely thought of his crew in the week he'd been there. He'd thought of his ship more often - his poor lovely abandoned ship - and of the rum (which Elizabeth had mostly banned from the house).

He couldn't get over the fact that his newfound daughter acted so much like him. It was like looking in some distorted mirror until the image twisted and it was Angelica standing there instead.

Amara still clung to him like a child - and he supposed she was. He just didn't know what to do with her when she clutched at him.

She followed him around persistently and whilst it was also endearing, it was also mildly irritating.

Commitment was something he'd never handled before - something he'd never been able to handle before. Now he had a daughter and something like a sister in Elizabeth (though admittedly they were siblings that flirted) and a kind of nephew in little Will and then there was Angelica, whatever she was.

He didn't know what to call her.

He never had done.

This, this was domestic. This was the kind of life he'd left behind at eleven years old - the kind with families and homes and rules.

He lived with the sea, was wild like the sea, _belonged_ with the sea.

He didn't know if he could do this. (No, he knew he couldn't do this, he just didn't know how to tell Angelica that.)

Ultimately he hadn't had to.

She had always known him better than he'd known himself.

He'd woken almost ten days after he'd arrived to his daughter hugging him tightly, eyes glassy but tear free. Angelica had gently pulled her away and hugged her tightly.

Amara and Will had been the only ones to wave as his ship had sailed. Elizabeth and Angelica both knew how little he liked goodbyes.

He hadn't waved back.

But he knew he would be back in the end.


	5. Chapter 5

**I was going to post this as a separate one-shot, but it's not really long enough (not that that usually stops me, but oh well) x Instead you get another chapter, which works because it does continue on from the last one x It's in a bit of a different style, from a different POV, so I don't know how I did - feel free to tell me what you think x Please read and review x**

Jack comes back from wherever he's been hiding over the last few days acting oddly. Gibbs has known Jack for an awfully long time now, years and years, but he's never known the younger pirate to act this strangely.

Something new has happened, something of an entirely different calibre.

And it has something to do with where he vanished to while the rest of them were in Tortuga spending their money and wasting their loot.

He hadn't told any of them where he was going, not even Gibbs, and now Gibbs isn't sure that Jack will be willing to spill the beans. He looks far too unsettled for that.

Gibbs, quite frankly, didn't know what to do.

Jack had the look of someone who had been slapped around the face one too many times - the kind of thing that usually happened when he spent too long _in_ Tortuga, not away from it.

"Jack," He cried, as the younger pirate made port in the small vessel that he'd used for his venture.

"Mr Gibbs!" Jack cried back loudly, an odd edge in his voice that told Gibbs he wasn't all there with them, his head off in the clouds - as usual.

Gibbs patted the Captain's shoulder fondly. "Where have you been Captain?"

"Around. A bit of everywhere I shouldn't have gone and probably should have as well."

As per usual, Mr Gibbs didn't exactly follow everything the Captain was saying. Most people didn't - it wasn't anything new.

"Where was that?"

Jack grimaced. "I went to pay a visit to an old friend."

"Oh?" Gibbs inquired, knowing there aren't many of them Jack is willing to visit - most of them will just slap him in the face.

"Our esteemed Mrs Turner."

Gibbs raised a brow. "Really?"

Jack nodded absent-mindedly. "It seems her and her husband got rather busy on their one day on land. She has a son, William Turner III."

Gibbs laughed, remembering Elizabeth when she was barely more than eight years old - no older than the child must be. How strange it is to think of the same child all grown up and married, with a child of her own.

"Had a nice visit?"

Jack's face twitched oddly. "It was...enlightening." Without another word, about Elizabeth or her son, Jack strode off into the depths of the Black Pearl, leaving Gibbs behind as per usual. The behaviour, however, _was_ usual. He would've expected Jack to at least talk about Elizabeth and her child before vanishing off into the bowels of the ship, whether the child took after his mother or his father.

What was wrong with him this time?

* * *

Over the next few days Jack refuses to mention the visit. It doesn't take Gibbs long to realise that Jack is actively avoiding the subject - he's smarter than most people give him credit for. He has to be to keep up with Jack, or else you get left behind, and for a pirate that's rather a stupid idea.

But, eventually, Jack has to snap. Gibbs has seen this before, and you can tell he's known Jack far too long. One day soon everything he wants to say will come exploding out of him in a torrent, to the closest person - and in the past it hasn't always been someone Jack can trust.

Jack can't keep a secret, not forever. He talks too much for that.

Gibbs will just have to keep an eye on him until it happens - and it will do.

So he does. He rarely leaves the Captain alone, even when they sail from Tortuga, with most of their former crew still onboard (some left with their loot) and quite a few unfamiliar faces. He has a job to do and he does it, but he also let the others do it, under the pretence of letting them learn the ropes. It gets the jobs done and gives him time to keep an eye on Jack.

For years now his unofficial job has been to follow Jack around and keep him from getting into any major trouble - not that he succeeds. Jacks a wild card all of his own.

But still, as Gibbs predicted, it all comes exploding out one day, not long after they leave Tortuga - and luckily it isn't out on the deck where everyone can hear.

Gibbs can hardly believe what he hears for himself.

Elizabeth as a mother he can see, she has been raised properly and then become a proper pirate. Any child of hers would be fearsome to cross, and Gibbs half hopes they'll meet one day.

Jack however...

Even Angelica had never seen the motherly type. She'd seemed the type to never let herself get into that position in the first place, and should it happen, have it taken care of down some back street alleyway in London.

Jack and Angelica with a daughter. A miniature Jack.

Gibbs is startled by the mere thought. For some reason, he doesn't know why, he's more startled by the fact that it's a _daughter_ than the idea that he has a child. After all even Jack would probably want to pass the reins on some day so maybe having a child wasn't too far a stretch.

But on these high seas having a daughter would do nothing for your ship. Most female Captains were not well respected, Elizabeth and Angelica aside.

"You have a _daughter_?" Gibbs just about shouts. He isn't sure whether he's excited or merely freaked out, but whatever this emotion is, it's making him want to scream.

Captain Jack Sparrow is a father.

God help them all.

* * *

Over the next few days Gibbs manages to prise some of the details out of Jack, her name, what she looks like, which of her parents she takes after. He already guesses some of it - she'll be fiery and strong willed and magnetic, because both of her parents are. She'll be dark haird and dark eyes and very beautiful when she gets older, and she'll be a pirate.

Now that he's told him Jack doesn't seem to have the urge to explode anymore, settling down on the trip in a way that he wasn't before - or maybe Gibbs only notices because he's looking for it.

Jack spends some of the time just staring off into the distance, an odd look on his face, one Gibbs had never seen before this journey, and he knows that Jack is imagining his daughter, maybe even Angelica. It is the kind of sentimentality you don't normally get from Jack Sparrow and it takes a lot to put it there - more than Gibbs had ever seen from Jack before.

He wonders if Angelica knows how much Jack cares - or if he just fobbed her off with an excuse and dashed to a boat as quick as he could, because he isn't good with feelings and he's even worse with people.

It doesn't take long for the other crew members to start noticing Jack's strange looks, even if none of them bring it up directly with Jack.

No, they all bring it up with Gibbs instead.

And Gibbs frankly doesn't have the time nor the interest to dodge questions from curious crew members. And, even more frankly, he's curious himself.

* * *

The next day he asks Jack when are they going to meet her.

Jack looks startled for a moment and then contemplative.

Soon, he says.


End file.
